Starting with SOLIDWORKS 2015, the SOLIDWORKS Icon has now year mentioned in the icon. This is a really nice enhancement, specially for people using multiple SOLIDWORKS versions on same machine.

This would have been further nice if same thing has been done with other icons like eDrawings, SOLIDWORKS Inspection. Click on the following pictures to download the respective icons I’ve created for myself.

Linear pattern feature has been given a makeover with the new option of Up to Reference

Up to Reference is a new option in the linear pattern feature that is similar to the equal spacing option in the circular pattern and allows for creation of intelligent patterns.

The “Up to Reference” option allows you to select an edge, vertex or face as a reference to control how many instances will be created at a given spacing. An offset from that reference is available to maintain proper spacing from the end. If the location of the reference is moved, the number of instances is recalculated.

Another option is to choose a fixed number of equally spaced instances without regard to the spacing. If the reference moves the spacing is adjusted to fit, maintaining the fixed number of instances.

This new capability of the linear pattern is a tremendous time saver, as it is no longer necessary to create equations to achieve the same results!

Great tool, no more messing with maths/equations now and let SOLIDWORKS do it for you.

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS 2015, you can click the banner below and bookmark the launch page for when it goes live on September 9th, 2014.

Treehouse is a breakthrough tool for design teams that think from the top down. Users can create and customize a conceptual, graphical representation of an assembly before beginning design work. Treehouse enables you to name your components and add custom properties all before creating a single document. Once the layout is complete and all your CAD documents have been generated, import the top level assembly into any PDM system and start assigning components to the appropriate users. It is that simple.

Long time users of SOLIDWORKS may remember it’s early beginnings when it was previewed several years ago. Users asked to bring this back as a full-fledged feature in SOLIDWORKS and we got it back.

It works by simply dragging and dropping parts and assemblies onto one another; you can build an entire assembly structure in minutes. Each part or sub-assembly can then be edited to include custom properties, configurations, quantities and more. Drawings can also be associated to the parts and assemblies. Likewise, existing assemblies can be opened in SOLIDWORKS Treehouse to view, edit and add to the structure. When complete, the entire structure can then be opened as a full SOLIDWORKS file structure. Combine this tool with SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM and you have a very powerful solution.

SOLIDWORKS Treehouse is an invaluable tool for those companies who build product structures upfront. Create the structure, and then use SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM to distribute the sub assemblies to the appropriate engineers.

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS 2015, you can click the banner below and bookmark the launch page for when it goes live on September 9th, 2014.

Continuing to to next new cool feature which is Customizable Context-Sensitive Toolbars (yes you read it correctly).

Customizable Context-Sensitive Toolbars have been the daydreams of many users since they were first introduced. Context sensitive toolbars are the popup toolbars that appear whenever you select anything in SOLIDWORKS. You may notice that SOLIDWORKS has always done a great job of providing some of the most commonly used tools for the selected object (Face, Edge, Vertex, etc.), but have you ever thought to yourself, “it would be nice to add the Hole Wizard Button to the context sensitive toolbar for Face”?

Well now in SOLIDWORKS 2015 you can do just this! Similar to customizing the Shortcut Toolbar (or “S Key” as it’s sometimes referred to), you can simply right mouse click on any context sensitive toolbar and choose Customize. Then, just like editing the Shortcut Toolbar, you can add any command from the software for that selection type. This is going to be a massive time saver once you have it set up to access your most commonly used commands based on selection. One of the nice feature making the users more effective with the software.

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS 2015, you can click the banner below and bookmark the launch page for when it goes live on September 9th, 2014.

Each year SOLIDWORKS releases a new version of its flagship product. Highly anticipated by SOLIDWORKS users, each release is packed with hundreds of new features and enhancements requested by users from around the world.

Profile Center Mate, one of the new features in SOLIDWORKS 2015 is sure to be a favorite of any user who creates Assemblies on a regular basis. The Profile Center Mate locates the centers of two items to each other regardless of their size or shape. A few options for the new mate include an offset and the ability to change the orientation in 90 degree increments. The best part about this mate is, if the size or location of the selection is changed, the Profile Center mate maintains the intelligence to keep them centered on one another!

The Profile Center Mate can also be used to fully locate round items such as screws. The mate locks two circular profiles to each other and their rotation can be locked at the same time as well. This means it only requires a single mate to fully locate a screw now. This is a huge time saver and can help to minimize the number of mates in an assembly.

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS 2015, you can click the banner below and bookmark the launch page for when it goes live on September 9th, 2014.

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